Penderecki: Izhe Xeruvimy (Song of Cherubim)

The range of Penderecki’s music is exemplified by this disc, which presents five works written over a period of nearly 40 years. Hymne an den heiligen Adalbert was composed in 1997 and evokes the martyred eighth-century Bishop of Prague through spare but fervent gestures. More austere, but intense in its focus, is Song of the Cherubim, whilst Canticum Canticorum Salomis is a richly sensuous exploration of the Song of Songs. Kosmogonia explores a complex sound tapestry. Strophen (1959) was a breakthrough work – spare, intricate and marvellously tensile.

Looking at Penderecki’s choral output, one cannot help noticing that in comparison with other, highly diverse forms of his artistic utterance, it constitutes the most homogenous whole. All of Penderecki’s acappella choral compositions on this CD go a long way to show that reconciling broadly-understood traditions with openness to contemporary avant-garde trends is possible and can bring aesthetically impressive results.